My beloved, but now retired 2011 WRX. Soon to be replaced with an STi hatch. These cars are the poor man's Carrera 4 IMO. Aside from the fact that the C4 will still let you slide around a corner in my experience (and it was a bit difficult to do so in my WRX), The drives are shockingly similar. The C4 is obviously more refined, but the confidence you can have as a novice taking a corner at speed is awe inspiring.
So she's not exotic, but still gets me excited.